How to Manage Instagram via the Facebook Inbox

Ever wish you could manage your Instagram and Facebook comments and messages in one place?

Have you heard of the Facebook Inbox?

Facebook’s Inbox allows you to manage Instagram, Facebook, and Messenger comments and messages in a single location.

In this article, you’ll discover how to use the Facebook Inbox to manage your Instagram account.

How to Manage Instagram via the Facebook Inbox by Jenn Herman on Social Media Examiner.

Access the Facebook Inbox

The new Inbox feature for Facebook pages is rolling out globally now. Some users are getting access on their mobile devices first, while others are getting access on their desktops first.

On desktop, you’ll know you have the new feature when the banner has an Inbox tab rather than the Messages tab.

If you see the Inbox tab on Facebook desktop, you have access to the redesigned feature.

On your mobile device, the new layout is recognizable when the toolbar with your analytics, inbox, and notifications icons moves to the bottom of the screen.

You’ll know you have the updated Facebook Inbox on mobile if you see the toolbar at the bottom of the screen; the Inbox icon is third from the left.

Once you have the updated Facebook Inbox, here’s how to start using it to manage your Instagram account.

#1: Connect Your Facebook and Instagram Accounts

If you’ve already upgraded your Instagram account to a business profile and connected it to your Facebook page, when you open the new Facebook Inbox, you’ll get a notification that you can now read and reply to comments on your Instagram posts.

This will update automatically in your Facebook business page app.

The new Inbox layout on mobile separates messages into four tabs depending on the source.

If you haven’t already connected your Facebook and Instagram accounts, when you open your inbox and tap on the Instagram tab, you’ll be prompted to log into your Instagram account to complete the setup process.

#2: Respond to Instagram Comments in the Facebook Inbox

Once your Facebook and Instagram accounts are connected, you’ll see all of your Instagram comment notifications in your Facebook Inbox.

On mobile, click the All tab to see all of your notifications from Messenger, your Facebook page, and your connected Instagram account.

View notifications for your Facebook page, Messenger, and Instagram on the All tab.

If you want to view only your Instagram notifications, tap the Instagram tab.

You can view the thumbnail images of the posts that received comments, along with the first line of your captions. You’ll also see the usernames of people who recently left comments, along with the time of the most recent comment.

Tap the Instagram tab in your Facebook Inbox to see the most recent comments on your Instagram posts.

Tap on a post notification to open that post’s comment thread in the inbox. On the next screen, you can view all of the comments on that post, including any comments you’ve made in response to others.

Likewise, when you’re on desktop, navigate to the inbox on your Facebook page and click the Instagram tab in the left pane. Select one of the posts listed to see the comment notifications for that post.

On desktop, open the inbox on your Facebook page and click the Instagram tab to see comments on your posts.

It’s important to note that some of the native engagement features you’re used to on Instagram aren’t available in the Facebook Inbox.

There is no Reply feature to the comments left on your post when using your inbox. Instead, you have to manually type a person’s username to respond to them directly. Or if you slide a comment to the left, you’ll see a Reply button on the right. Tap the Reply button to populate the person’s username in the comment field.

And yes, you can use this same function to access the delete option if you want to delete a comment from the post thread.

You’ll also notice that the Instagram usernames aren’t hyperlinked or clickable so you can’t view their profiles from the inbox.

Tap the Reply button on a comment to populate the person’s Instagram username in the comment field.

Organize Your Instagram Notifications

There are a number of ways to organize your inbox, both on mobile and desktop. All of your post notifications are displayed in the inbox. Anything new and unread is bold. Once you open a notification, the message is no longer bold but remains in the inbox list.

You can then choose to file notifications under other folders (Done or Follow-Up). Or you can even mark a notification as Unread.

To move the notification to the Done folder, click the check mark on both mobile and desktop. To move the notification to the Follow-Up folder, click the clock from the desktop inbox. On mobile, you may need to tap the three-dot or gear icon to find the Move to Follow Up option.

Click the clock icon on desktop to move the Instagram notification to the Follow-Up folder.

Keeping your notifications organized will allow you and your team to better manage response times and engagement for your Instagram content.

Advantages of Using the Facebook Inbox for Instagram Comments

The primary advantage of using the Facebook Inbox for your Instagram account is efficiency. If you’re regularly on your desktop computer and have Facebook open in a browser, you can quicklysee Instagram notifications and reply promptly, without having to hop over to your mobile device and launch the Instagram app.

If you have a team of people responsible for your Facebook and Instagram account management, this new inbox will streamline account access. Anyone who is an admin, editor, or moderator on your Facebook page will have access to the Instagram account notifications. They’ll be able to respond on behalf of your business without needing direct access to your Instagram account.

Note that you’ll receive Facebook page notifications (if you have push notifications enabled) alerting you to comments on your Instagram account. Again, for teams, this can be helpful to ensure you don’t miss anything. However, if you have both Facebook page and Instagram push notifications enabled, you’ll get notifications for both.

#3: Edit Instagram Account Details From Your Facebook Page

Beyond managing the comments on your Instagram posts, you can also edit some of your Instagram account details from your Facebook page. Click on the down arrow next to Help in the top-right corner of the page. Then choose Settings.

You can edit some Instagram account details from your Facebook page settings.

Again, some native Instagram features aren’t available when you edit in Facebook. For example, any formatting or spacing you use in your bio won’t necessarily transfer over to the Instagram layout.

If you change your website link frequently or update your bio description regularly, having the ability to manage those fields from your Facebook page may help you be more efficient.

Conclusion

If you have an active Instagram account with constant notifications of comments, the new Facebook Inbox may be a helpful tool to streamline your management process.

Of course, Facebook owns Instagram and wants to do what they can to keep you on their platforms, so the integration was inevitable. However, if you use other dashboard tools, they may be just as useful, or even more so, when it comes to managing your Instagram notifications.

What do you think? Will you try out the updated Facebook Inbox to manage your Instagram content? Or have you already tried it? Please share your thoughts or lessons learned in the comments below.

How to Manage Instagram via the Facebook Inbox by Jenn Herman on Social Media Examiner.